Mopping device



L. B. wALToN MOPPING DEVICE oct. 14 1924. 1511,2 48

Filed oct. so, 1922 ATTORNEY Patented Oct, 14, 3.924.

LAWRENCE B. VJALTON. OF KANSAS CTTY, MSSOUEI.

MOPPING DEVICE.

Application tiled Detener 30, 1922.

f/"o all whom t may conce/ra Be it known that l, LAWRENCE B. Wan Ton, acitizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county ofJackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Mopping Devices: and l do declare the following to be afull, clear. and exact description of'the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to malte and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to thefigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to a floor cleaning machine and the primaryobject is to provide a machine for cleaning floors which may employ amop and if desired, brushes, so that the floor can be convenientlyscrubbed, there being means provided for supplying water to the mop forthe initial scrubbing and a wringer is also provided for wringing outthe water so that the mop can finally pass over the floor to take up the5 excess moisture.

The mop will be driven so that it will pass over the floor first fortaking off the initial dirt and then for effect-ing the final mopping,there being provision made whereby brushes can act on the floor betweenthe two mopping operations.

The novel construction of the invention will be apparent by referencetof the following description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional viewthrough floor cleaning machine constructed in accordance with myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional viewon the line 2*2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing one of the mop elements co-operatingwith the mop chain.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference:

'l designates a casing supported a suitable distance above the floor bythe wheels 2 and 3. The casing carries a suds reservoir or tank 4,through which the mop may pass to take up the suds before it passes overthe floor, the mop being adapted to return to the tank for rinsingpurposes before passing through a wringer, from which it then passesthrough the housing to again contact with the loor to take up themoisture.

Serial No. 597,799.

The tank can be supported in any suitable way and in any suitableposition, for example, as shown in Fig. 1.

The casing 1 is: provide-d with a handle 5 by means of which the casingmay be moved to and fro over the licor. lt is the purpose of myinvention to have the mop driven mechanically and to this end I haveprovided on the casing 1 a motor 6, shown as an electric motor, adaptedto receive current from any suitable source and on the pulley 7 on thedrive shaft of the motor is a belt 3 which. drives a pulley S) on ashaft 10' which extends through the casing. There is a small pulley 11on the shaft 1() around which passes a belt 12, also passing around apulley 13 on the` brush shaft 14. The shaft 14 carries a brush 15 (seeFigs. 'l and 2). On the shaft 14 is another pulley 16 around whichpasses a belt 17 to drive the shaft 18 for the brush 19.

The mop is in the form of an endless belt consisting of the two chains20 and 21, driven by sprockets 22 and 23 on the shaft 10. The chainsengage the teeth 24 and 25 on the end of roller spindles 26. The rollerspindles carry the mop cloths 27 so that the mopping elements whichassist in making up the belt are of cylindrically arranged fabrics.

The belt consisting of the chains and the mop elements being driven fromthe shaft 10 is guided on the guide rails 28 which, intermediate theends of the tank, dip down into the reservoir 4 in the form of a halfloop, as indicated at 29. The major portion of the guides are outsidethe tank how ever.

Viewing the drawing in Fig. 1, the left hand side of the tank is themop-diseharging end of the tank; that is, the mop leaves the tank fromthat end and passes over the guide portions 30, guided downwardly by thevertical guides 31 and across the short bottom guide 32 so that the mopelements 100 will contact with the floor; then the mop elements pass upon the vertical guides 33 and into the tank on the half loop-shapedguides 34 and then upwardly to a wringer 35, which consists of wringerrollers, one set 105 36 of which may be rigid and the other set 37 ofwhich may be spring-actuated by being carried on the plate 37, pivotedat 38 and having an arm 39 which is engaged by a tension spring 40, oneend of which is fas- 110 tened to the casing at 4l. 1When the mop passesthrough the wringera it is then guided downwardly by the vertical guide4t2 and across the bottom guide L3 where it will come in contact withthe floor practically devoid of moisture so that it will take up anyexcess moisture from the floor. Then the mop belt passes upwardly alongthe guide #l-#l and back into the receptacle or suds reservoir.

Between the two mop portions guided by the guides 32 and i3 are thescrubbing brushes l5 and 19, which will rotate to loosen the dirtmoistened by the mop which has previously passed over it so that therecan be a scrubbing action on the floor, the

necessary water for the brushes having been supplied by the portion ofthe mop which initially comes into contact with the floor.

The mop belt is caused to take the downward dip into the suds by theidler 45.

The belt, being driven by the motor, will operate continuously while thedevice as a whole is moved back and forth over the sur'- face to becleaned and there will be presented to the surface mop elements whichwill contain considerable moisture so that the wet part of the mop mayiirst pass over the floor. Then the ioor may be scrubbed by the brushes,and finally the drying portion of the mop will take up the excessmoisture. All this can be done in a mechanical way without any unduemanual exertion.

The mop elements themselves may consist of cylinders or shafts withfabric wound about them, or they may consist of shafts with tubularfabrics with packing between the fabrics and the shafts. The mopelements should possess sufficient yieldabilitys however7 to allow themto pass through the wringer so that the excess moisture can be pressedout of them. y Y

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the device is simple inconstruction, that it may be conveniently operated from the motorcarried by the casing, and that access may be had to the interior of thecasing through the medium of a hinged door or cover 46.

That I claim and ters-Patent is:

floorl scrubbing machine comprising a carriage including a hollowcasing, open at the bottom and closed at the top, a water receptaclewithin the casing, the ends of the desire to secure by Letwaterreceptacle being spaced from the endsV of the casing to provide verticalend spaces, a traveling endless mop carrying belt having upper and lowerflights, means for guiding the upper and lower flights through thewater' receptacle, the endless belt projecting through the verticalspaces and below the casing so that the belt will contact with the floorduring its travel at each end of the casing, means for driving the beltand a wringer within the casing through which the belt passes.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

LAVRENCE B. WALTON.

